Tag: Writing

  • Inspiring Places

    Apologies for the radio silence, readers. I went on holiday, and somehow all my plans to get ahead of myself and schedule posts before I went didn’t work out. I suspect they didn’t work out because I was sadly behind on deadlines. I’d intended a week completely free of writing to unwind entirely, but that…

  • Free Reading Challenge: How much is too much?

    Finding Free I’ve spoken before about how I’ve found books to read for my free reading challenge. I’ve surfed Amazon (not a brilliant success), found books from e-mail promotion companies, and from recommendations on Facebook and Twitter and signed up to blog tours (much more successful). Just lately, I’ve also signed up to several author newsletters…

  • 5 ways to get more words written

    I’ve been making a deliberate effort to increase my productivity lately. I’m now a self-published writer looking to increase the audience for my fiction. One of the sure-fire ways to do this is to write more books (everything I’ve read about self-publishing says the key is to write more and get more books out if…

  • A life of its own

    There’s Magic in them there words! There’s something magical about writing. Well, yeah, I would think that, wouldn’t I? – but it’s true. However badly written a book, I’ve never yet found one that didn’t convince me that its story was true. I might condemn the characters for being one-dimensional or acting irrationally or stupidly.  I…

  • What you need to finish a book:

    … tea, chocolate, and desperation (oh, and Post-it notes). Tea. I’m British, and this is the national curative. Just been in a minor accident? I’ll make you a cup of sweet tea for the shock. Bad exam results? Have a nice cup of tea and remember there’s always re-takes. Leg bitten off by a crocodile?…

  • The Last Dreamseer’s theme tune

    I always write with music on in the background. Writers have strong feelings about this. Like plotter-vs-pantster debates, fellow writers either consider music a vital adjunct to the creative process, or a barbaric derailment of inspirational flow. While I’m sure I could write without music I like to have some noise going on in the…

  • Superpowers

    Creating the world of Fane has made me ponder about superpowers, because everyone on Fane (and fanes when they visit other planets) demonstrates some extraordinary abilities that human beings would consider superpowers. Deena, the heroine of The Last Dreamseer, has probably drawn the short straw. Her superpower is the ability to see the future in visions.…

  • Re-filling the Well

    As I mentioned last week, I’ve been pretty busy with the nitty-gritty of publishing lately. The Last Dreamseer is now live at e-retailers and ready to launch on 27th November (yippee!), but the pace hasn’t let up as I’ve been liaising with friends who have kindly agreed to blog on my behalf to publicise the launch,…

  • The art of knowing when to stop

    I am in the thick of final, final, FINAL proofing for my next novel, The Last Dreamseer. Somehow, I thought it would be quicker than this. I’ll explain my editing process: I’ve written the book, had writer friends look at it, revised and revised again. It’s then been to a professional editor for substantive edits…

  • Laser-like focus

    Pinch, punch it’s November 1st so for once I don’t need to struggle to think of a topic to blog about: it’s NaNoWriMo time. I’m a firm fan of NaNoWriMo, because it matches the way I work, splurging a dirty draft of something into the world as quickly as possible, which can then be revised…